


follow my dreams (you'd think they were nightmares the way they scream)

by aletterinthenameofsanity



Series: we're just reckless kids (trying to find an island in the flood) [1]
Category: Cinderella - All Media Types, Rags (2012)
Genre: And I intend to at least help remedy that, Brotherhood, Charlie Deserves Happiness, Child Abuse, Complicated Relationships, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Gay Character, Gen, Happy Ending, Lloyd Deserves Happiness, Lloyd's gay blink and you'll miss it, M/M, No Proofreading We Die Like Men, POV Outsider, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Redemption, and Cinderella, and they can still support each other, because abused children will find every way they can to help each other, because goddamnit i love this fucking movie, character development bitch, fight me on this, kids can be abused in different ways, this fandom has no fics in it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-13 21:28:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16026314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aletterinthenameofsanity/pseuds/aletterinthenameofsanity
Summary: Lloyd recognizes Charlie at the party and he knows then that his plans to save them both will change. Charlie should win that contest. He should be the winner, not Androyd.Lloyd just hopes that wherever Charlie’s star takes him, he’ll let Lloyd escape with him just like Lloyd planned on rescuing Charlie.-There’s something fucked up about the dance that Charlie and Lloyd have to move, to cover up the fact that Charlie finally has something to hope for and that Lloyd doesn’t actually hate his stepbrother.And that’s pretty fucked up, isn’t it? That Lloyd can’t actually care about his stepbrother, that he can’t support his stepbrother when he’s earned something this big.Because Charlie deserves to be happy, and Lloyd wants him to have that.-Lloyd runs like he’s never run before.He has to find Kadee Worth. She’s the only one who may believe him, who will understand why Andrew is not, and can never be, Rags.“Kadee,” he gasps, and the pop star looks at him with a raised eyebrow. “You have to listen to me. Andrew- he’s not-”“Rags?” she asks quietly, and Lloyd gapes at her. “He’s not Rags,” she repeats.-(Lloyd does a bit more than the movie lets on.)





	follow my dreams (you'd think they were nightmares the way they scream)

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "Someday" from the movie Rags.
> 
> Okay, so quick note: this is my favorite Disney Channel/Nickelodeon movie of all time, and I have been pissed for years that there is absolutely no fic of it. So, I've cranked out this entire fic while watching this movie twice in a row because damnit, this movie should have some fic to go with it. Hope you all like it!

Lloyd knows he isn’t the brightest person in the world, but he can certainly recognize what’s wrong with the way that his Dad and Andrew treat his stepbrother.

He hates how they treat Charlie, making him an unpaid janitor in the restaurant that used to belong to his mom, that  _should_ belong to Charlie.

But if he tells Charlie the truth, his father could disown him, kick him and Charlie out onto the streets and keep the deed to the Palace. And if he stays quiet, Dad has promised to make him famous and rich.

If that happens before he’s eighteen, he’s planning on using the money to get Charlie out of there. Then, when he’s eighteen, Charlie can claim the Palace. Lloyd can play there, and Charlie can run the place his mother loved so much.

But in the meantime, he tries to make things better for Charlie. Tries to pick up a bit when Dad isn’t watching, tries to ease Charlie's burden.

At school, Lloyd takes Theatre Productions as an elective so he can learn how to work everything on the stage so that he can help clean up when they’re done practicing. It isn’t much, considering that Charlie is basically the janitor for the entire Palace, but it is helping at least a little.

He doesn’t know if Charlie realizes what he’s doing, and he long ago decided that he doesn’t care. With all the stuff he’s keeping from Charlie, everything that could so easily change Charlie’s life, Lloyd knows he doesn’t deserve what thanks Charlie would assuredly give.

They both just have to hit eighteen and then hopefully they’ll both be out. And then Lloyd can tell him.

-

“I’ll bring you back some cake,” Lloyd promises Charlie, because he feels really bad that they stole Charlie’s invitation. Charlie should be going too- that was his invitation, after all- but Lloyd is scared of his Dad and how he’ll react. He’s gonna try and make it up to Charlie somehow, though.

He has to.

-

Lloyd recognizes Charlie at the party and he _knows_ then that his plans will change. Charlie clearly loves performing as much as Lloyd does, and he clearly likes being the front man more than Lloyd does-

Charlie should win that contest. _He_ should be the winner, not Andrew and Lloyd. To Lloyd’s pleasant surprise, he has everything it takes to make it big, to become just as big of a star as Kadee Worth.

Lloyd just hopes that wherever Charlie’s star takes him, he’ll let Lloyd escape with him just like Lloyd planned on rescuing Charlie.

(Charlie has always been the least loved by Dad, but Lloyd has always been less loved than Andrew. Dad doesn’t have the patience to try and figure out the words Lloyd tries to get out, doesn’t have the patience to try and teach Lloyd how to do things the right way. Lloyd gets insulted constantly about everything, and he knows that it’s nowhere near the manual labor his Dad traps Charlie into, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t hate it.)

He’d much rather go flying with Charlie than getting trapped behind with his Dad.

-

He tries to convince Charlie to come out to Kadee, to tell her who he truly is, because he deserves her. He deserves someone who will appreciate him for who he is, someone who won’t insult him like Dad and Andrew do.

“No girl’s looking for a nobody from a horrible family,” Charlie says, and Lloyd winces. He’s just as much a nobody from a horrible family as Charlie is, and he knows that no boy will ever look twice at him.

But that doesn’t mean that Charlie- who is talented, has such passion, and has already gotten Kadee’s attention- can’t succeed. He just has to stand up for himself and become the star he’s meant to be.

But then Lloyd insults Charlie in front of his Dad, because there’s no other way to keep his attention off of Charlie.

There’s something fucked up about the dance that Charlie and Lloyd have to participate in, to cover up the fact that Charlie finally has something to hope for and that Lloyd doesn’t actually hate his stepbrother.

And that’s pretty fucked up, isn’t it? That Lloyd can’t actually care about his stepbrother, that he can’t support his stepbrother when he’s earned something this big.

Because Charlie deserves to be happy, and Lloyd wants him to have that.

-

When Andrew heads up onstage solo at the auditions, something seems off to Lloyd. Charlie should be there, performing, or at least he should be stopping Andrew from telling Kadee that he is Rags.

Charlie clearly likes Kadee, but more importantly, he clearly loves being Rags. Lyrics and stage presence like that aren’t an accident- they come from passion, from a love for music. Fear of Kadee not liking him wouldn’t make him let Andrew steal his music- it has to be something else at play here.

So rather than wallow in disappointment, Lloyd heads out of backstage and toward the main auditorium. Something here isn’t right, and he won’t let Andrew crush Charlie’s hopes.

But Lloyd’s too late. Andrew goes out and sings, and Reginald Worth declares him Rags- the title that is rightfully Charlie’s.

Lloyd has never hated his brother more than he does in this moment, as Charlie’s dreams get stolen by someone who cheated his way into the reward for Charlie’s hard work.

Lloyd catches a glimpse of Charlie heading out the door, and he has to go and catch him. Lloyd’s gotta be able to make things right. He’s gotta make Charlie’s dreams come true, gotta give him the happiness Dad stole from him every day since his mom died.

By the time Lloyd gets out the door, though, Charlie is gone as is most of the crowd. He hears mentions of the Palace around him, and he knows that’s got to be where Andrew and Dad plan on celebrating their horrible plan.

So Lloyd runs like he’s never run before.

He has to find Kadee Worth. She’s the only one who may believe him, who will understand why Andrew is not, and can never be, Rags.

He gets to the Palace and there, standing right inside the entrance of the Palace, is Kadee Worth. Thank god.

“Kadee,” he pants, breath coming in short gasps from the run, and the pop star looks at him with a raised eyebrow. “You have to listen to me. Andrew- he’s not-”

“Rags?” she asks quietly, and Lloyd gapes at her. “He’s not Rags,” she repeats.

Lloyd nods. “How’d you know?”

“Charlie’s my friend,” she says, “And he’s a pretty distinctive guy with a lot of smart things to say. Of course I figured it out.”

Lloyd grins. “Thank god. Andrew doesn’t deserve it-” His words stop as he finally looks around the Palace and sees the decorations.

Lloyd looks over at the stage, at the giant sign that shouts _CONGRATULATIONS ANDREW!!!_ in sickening pink letters, and he spots Charlie underneath, heading to the door with his guitar slung over his back, hat on his head, and a duffel bag in each hand. His shoulders are slumped as if the ropes that have kept him straight for ten years have finally been cut, and Lloyd actually thinks he can see something glistening on Charlie’s cheeks. Is he crying?

Charlie gets stopped by Dad by the bar, and Lloyd can see the way that Charlie’s shoulders slump even further with every word that comes out of Dad’s mouth.

“You’ve gotta stop Charlie before you go onstage, convince him to stay to hear you speak,” Lloyd says, turning back to Kadee, “Or else he’s gonna leave before you do.”

Kadee raises an eyebrow. “That _was_ the plan, random guy.”

“Oh,” Lloyd says, realizing that his slow thinking made him forget about something so easy and simple as telling his name. “Lloyd. I’m Charlie’s stepbrother and brother to that idiot Andrew.”

“Andrew’s Charlie’s stepbrother?” Kadee asks, fury twisting her lips, and it seems like he’s finally told her something she doesn’t know. “And he tried to steal Rags? That-”

“Bastard, I know,” Lloyd says, “But go catch Charlie and make your announcement. Killing Andrew can wait for later.”

Kadee’s glare softens into a smile. “Thanks, Lloyd.” And then she takes off.

Lloyd immediately turns and heads in the opposite direction, up to backstage. As soon as the announcement is made, he’s going to remove everything of Andrew’s face offstage. He watches through a gap in the curtains as Kadee heads upstage and starts to make her announcement. To his dismay, Charlie picks his bags back up and starts to head out the door. Lloyd wishes she’d just get ahead with her speech, so that Charlie could hear it _before_ he made it out the door.

Then Kadee says it: “Please put your hands up for the real Rags,” she starts, “Mr. Charlie Prince!”

Then Charlie drops his bags on the ground, his face lighting up with happy shock. He heads up toward the stage, even as their idiot brother tries to steal the spotlight one more time. Thankfully Kadee isn’t putting up with any of Andrew’s bullshit as she welcomes Charlie onto the sage.

He and Kadee exchange a few words and then look into each other’s eyes with smiles so fond that it nearly makes Lloyd ache for the kind of affection he’s never gotten.

Then Kadee backs off the stage, letting Charlie perform, for the first time in his life, as himself.

Charlie owns that stage, unmasked and in only his regular jacket and jeans. He doesn’t need anything special to make his music shine- he is just himself, singing the music he wrote, and that is all he needs.

Then, with that kindness Lloyd has been the undeserved recipient of too many times over the past decade, he stops singing and calls Kadee on the stage, asking her to sing her _own_ music.

Charlie knows Kadee far better than anyone else does, especially Andrew. Charlie and Kadee deserve each other, with their way to see under each other’s disguises and appreciate what they find there.

When Kadee stops singing and Charlie joins her back onstage, Lloyd is so incredibly happy for them. He can’t think of anything that could spoil this-

Then Lloyd hears his father say something about still having the Palace, and he knows that this is the breaking point. He won’t let his father hold something like that from Charlie, not after everything that’s happened. After the way Dad nearly killed Charlie’s dreams, nearly stole his music and trapped him as a janitor for the rest of his life- he doesn't deserve any measure of respect that Lloyd held for him before.

“No,” Lloyd says, “I’m done lying.” He looks up at the stage, finds Charlie looking straight back at him. “Charlie, your mom didn’t leave the Palace to my Dad. She left it to _you._ ”

Charlie looks like he’s been punched in the gut. “She did _what_?”

Lloyd nods furiously. “Just check the deed, and I promise you’ll find your name.”

“Charlie,” Maria says, proud smile blinding as she, Diego, and Lloyd pull Charlie into a brief group hug, “You finally got your happy ending!”

And Lloyd couldn’t be happier as he sees the grin on Charlie’s face and his hand in Kadee’s, the mic dangling from his free hand.

Charlie is exactly where he should be.

-

It’s been a few weeks since the Rags reveal, and Charlie is now co-owner of the Palace at age seventeen. He, Diego, and Maria all signed for it, sharing the legal ownership of the place because as it turns out, Charlie's age didn't matter when it came to inheriting the deed his mother left exclusively to him. Lloyd’s dad and Andrew are currently employed as janitors for the place they once trapped Charlie in.

And Lloyd? Lloyd is in a bit of a gray space when it comes to his relationship with Charlie. In the couple of weeks before the Rags reveal they’d been getting better one-on-one, but years of letting Dad step over Charlie can’t go away in a few weeks. There is definitely some awkwardness still in their relationship.

However, there are a few things in Lloyd’s favor. Apparently his Theatre Productions help hadn’t gone as unnoticed as he thought it had- once Charlie got the Palace deed in his name, he had asked Andrew if he didn’t mind ‘continuing the good work with the stage.’

And then there’s Kadee Worth, who told Charlie that Lloyd had stood up for him in the final moments. Her being Charlie’s girlfriend definitely counts for something.

So Lloyd’s finishing up high school without a plan for the future. He’s not exactly sure what he’s gonna do, without his Dad planning his every move, but you know what? Lloyd thinks he likes it a lot better this way. Helping run the Karaoke machine, cleaning up after any performances, and getting to sit in on Kadee and Charlie’s rehearsals in the Palace are all pretty fun things to spend his free time doing.

(Getting to watch their performances also means getting to learn the moves that Charlie is learning. And that’s the most interesting thing he’s learned in ages.)

-

“Hey, Lloyd,” Charlie says one day after rehearsal, and Lloyd looks up from packing away some of the mics.

“Yeah, Charlie?” he asks, brushing back some of the hair that is flopping into his face. Now that he’s not part of Androyd, he gets to style his hair however he wants. And he’s learning that he likes it a lot better flat than caked in hair product.

“I was wondering if you’d mind doing me a favor.”

Lloyd nods. “Yeah, sure.”

“Be one of Kadee and I’s dancers.”

Lloyd’s jaw drops. “You want me to _what_?”

Charlie grins. “I thought you’d enjoy it.”

“Yeah, no shit, dude,” Lloyd babbles, resisting the urge to wrap his stepbrother in a giant hug. “That’s amazing, thank you so much!” Then Lloyd purses his lips as a sobering thought enters his mind. “But why are you giving me such a good opportunity?”

“Because you’ve been helping me out for awhile now,” Charlie says, “With the cleaning up after all of your rehearsals for all of those years. It gave me time to do my homework so that I would have time to write music and go outside and play the streets. I wouldn’t have had time to work on my music if it hadn’t been for that. So this is a bit of thanks for all of that.”

And then Lloyd actually does hug Charlie. “You’re the best brother I could ask for.”

Charlie’s smile is brilliant. “Same to you, man.”

-

Being Charlie and Kadee's back up dancer is millions of miles better than playing second fiddle to Andrew. Here, he gets to do something he enjoys, getting taught at a pace he understands without being insulted, and he still gets to help out the groupies on tours and at the Palace.

He gets invited to parties on tours and sometimes he goes. Other times, he stays behind with David, one of the backup dancers who wears the most nerdy glasses when they aren't on stage and likes to go on tangents about what it's like to be a black nerd who loved Beyoncé and Kadee Worth just as much as he loves Shakespeare and Harry Potter, and learns what it's like to kiss a boy. He goes on dates that he knows his father wouldn't approve of with a beautiful man he couldn't imagine not falling in love with, and he's so incredibly happy.

His favorite parties, though, are the ones held back home at the Palace after it closes, with just Maria, Charlie, Diego, and Kadee. It's simple dinners made by Diego and Maria, and it feels like the loving family he and Charlie never got to have.

Sitting there joking with these people, teasing without malice and telling stories without anyone insulting him for his slow processing, is the best experience he's ever had. And he wouldn't trade it for the world.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I honestly don't care how few comments, kudos, or hits I get on this fic. This was a passion project that I wrote for those who remember this movie like I do, who want a happy ending as much as I did. I will welcome every interaction a reader has with this fic, but I'm not gonna get as emotionally attached to the idea of validation as I normally do. If I can get just one hit on this fic, I will be happy.


End file.
